Modi raises doctor retirement age

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the Saharanpur rally on Thursday that in view of the shortage of doctors in the country, he had decided to raise the retirement age of all doctors in government hospitals in the country to 65 years.

Mr Modi appealed to all doctors to offer free treatment to pregnant women who are poor on the 9th of each month.

“I appeal to all doctors to give 12 days in a year for their poor sisters and mothers... This is not asking for too much”, he said.

Mr Modi also mounted a scathing attack on previous (read Congress) governments, but did not specifically name any party or individual.

“Two years ago, on TV, in newspapers and on street corners, there was talk of corruption. My aim was to stop the loot and when we came to power, I was shocked to see the extent of the corruption that had taken place. In the past two years, my biggest achievement is that there has been no blot of corruption on my government, and even our rivals have not levelled any allegation of corruption against us”, he said.

“Yeh desh badal raha hai magar kuchh logon ka dimaag nahin badal raha hai”, he said, in a obvious reference to the Opposition.

He said before he came to power, states used to get 35 per cent of funds while the Centre kept 65 per cent of the money with itself. “My biggest decision was to give 65 per cent to the states and keep only 35 per cent with the Centre because as chief minister, I knew what lack of resources meant”, he said.

The PM spoke of the decisions taken to empower the poor, including the crop insurance scheme and free gas cylinders for poor families.

In a move aimed at helping people connect directly with the PM, BJP vice-president Om Mathur gave out a number to people and asked them to give a missed call, that would enable them to download an app and be connected with Mr Modi.